Assimilation into Christianity
American values and the Christian religion were part of the curriculum. Students still resisted, and spoke their language with each other and parents would train their children in traditional ceremonies in secret after dances were banned by the Indian agency. The Kiowa demanded that schools be opened for the reservation children and insisted that the government uphold their part of their treaty and a local public school district was formed on the reservation. Kiowa children were raised to be Christians at least part time, and many today practice both Christianity and traditional Kiowa religion. It seems that the Kiowa view of power in all of nature is not at odds with their understanding of the Christian faith.
Many Kiowa are part of the Native American Church, a peyote based denomination that integrates traditional religion, peyotism, and elements of Christianity. In the 1950s, it became legal again for dances to be held, and a movement to rebuild traditional religious dance formed around the Gourd Dance, a warrior dance that was once part of the Sun Dance ceremonies, but has now seemingly taken its place as the primary religious dance of the year, and is held in early summer just as the Sun Dance was. While secular pan-Indian dances with fancy regalia are open to the public, the Kiowa are like many other tribes reestablishing old religious traditions, hotly protective of the Gourd Dance and outsiders are strongly discouraged.
Like the Kiowa and Blackfoot, the Lakota were also forcibly assimilated into American culture. The goal of assimilation, according to Captain Richard H. Pratt, was to "Kill the Indian, and save the man." The main way that the U.S government sought to assimilate the Lakota was through the education of their children. Their children were forced to attend boarding schools. Many Lakota children were taken from their homes, some reportedly at gunpoint. The children were taken to places such as the Red Cloud Indian School, or the St. Joseph's Indian School. There the children would not be allowed to speak Lakota, and were forced to learn English, have their hair cut, and dress like American school children.
This forced Christianization went hand in hand with the banning of the traditional Lakota religion. Many important Lakota religious ceremonies, including the Sun Dance and Ghost Dance, were banned by the U.S government. These bans lasted decades, with the U.S government only lifting the ban in the 1970's. Making all of this worse was the near extinction of the buffalos. The millions of buffalos that once roamed the plains were the main source of food for the Lakota and many other tribes and were culturally significant. Without the buffalo, the Lakota were at the mercy of the U.S government. With their culture oppressed and their language and religion banned, the U.S government attempted to forcibly assimilate the Lakota people.
Despite all this, the Lakota proved extremely resilient. Although only spoken by a small number of people, the Lakota language still survives and is taught to many Lakota children. Their religious practices survived as well, with ceremonies such as the Sun Dance being held secretly until their ban was lifted. Even the introduction of Christianity did not kill the Lakota tradition. The traditional Lakota tradition and Christianity are not at odds with each other, with many practicing Christianity to this day. In fact a Lakota medicine man named Black Elk, who converted to Catholicism in 1904 and is in the process of becoming a canonized saint by the Catholic Church. If canonized, he would become only the second Native American canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church.
As the Indian Wars progressed, contention about the way to deal with the ‘Indian Problem,’ as it was referred to as then. Some felt as though removal and extinction were the best solution like the events that took place at the Sand Creek Massacre. Some back East disagreed with the severity of these actions and decided “Americanization” as a better alternative. This primarily involved government officials, social workers, and even clergymen who would actively work to assimilate Native Americans into society as a part of the United States. Boarding schools and relocation were major facets of assimilation. The policy that was created to support these ideas changed the demographics of cities and the culture and perception of Native Americans.
All groups of American Indians were subjected to this process of Americanization. Assimilation was forced upon the Blackfeet and much of their cultural practices were wiped away. For indigenous peoples, the lives of tribe members are strongly linked. When those links are disrupted, the implications and historical trauma are evident for generations. One effect of this assimilation is the conversion to Christianity. Many of the Blackfoot Tribe now identify as Christian and incorporated facets of their indigenous religion into their Christian practices.
